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Ford Building Cars That Talk To Other Cars

Posted by samzenpus on from the who-does-your-tires? dept.

thecarchik writes "Ford's new system works over a dedicated short-range WiFi system on a secure channel allocated by the FCC. The company says the system one-ups radar safety systems by allowing full 360-degree coverage even when there's no direct line of sight. Scenarios where this could benefit safety or traffic? Predicting collision courses with unseen vehicles, seeing sudden stops before they're visible, and spotting traffic pattern changes on a busy highway. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported in October that vehicle-to-vehicle warning systems could address nearly 80 percent of reported crashes not involving drunk drivers. As such, it could potentially save tens of thousands of lives per year."

4 of 239 comments (clear)

  1. Luckily... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Informative

    It will be completely impossible for either hacked Ford computers, or any other Wifi device operated by somebody who knows hat "MAC spoofing" means, to present inaccurate, deceptive, or otherwise unhelpful information to these Ford vehicles. I, for one, take comfort in that.

    FFS, dudes, trusting the client in a life-critical application? Srsly? Srsly?

    1. Re:Luckily... by Yakasha · · Score: 5, Funny

      It will be completely impossible for either hacked Ford computers, or any other Wifi device operated by somebody who knows hat "MAC spoofing" means, to present inaccurate, deceptive, or otherwise unhelpful information to these Ford vehicles. I, for one, take comfort in that. FFS, dudes, trusting the client in a life-critical application? Srsly? Srsly?

      Of course its safe. The FCC allocated a SECURE wifi channel for this.

  2. Forget about talking to cars -Talk2 traffic lights by brad3378 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There's few things more irritating to me than waiting for a red light when there are no other vehicles at an intersection.
    All I want is a simple way to communicate to the traffic light to let it know that I am approaching so I don't have to stop. It seems that most automatic lights I have encountered wait until I have come to a near full stop - which partially defeats the purpose.

    Implement this and then BAM - instant time savings and 3+ Miles per gallon savings for every vehicle on the road.

    --
  3. Re:These systems which preach safety and security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Absolutely. Intellidrive is the name for this in the US (previously VII, Vehicle Infrastructure Initiative). The plan is to specify an open protocol, some base DOT-specific applications, and then leave the field open for others to come up with creative uses for it.

    And yes, the car manufacturers are on board with this. They've agreed to implement the minimum system necessary in new model cars, and anything above the minimum system is going to be how they differentiate themselves between products.

    (The system is more than just car-to-car, it's car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure)